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Back home, Collins shares Hurricane Katrina experience

Published 9:14 p.m. CT Dec. 28, 2014

Alabama defensive back Landon Collins (26) goes through drills during NCAA college football practice at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, La., Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. Alabama is scheduled to play Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2015. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)(Photo: AP)

It’s not the first time he’s come home to play a football game as a member of Alabama’s football team. Collins was here a year ago, too. But it might be the last time he plays a college game here. Collins, the Crimson Tide’s hard-hitting junior safety, probably will enter the NFL draft in the spring. He’s projected as a top-10 pick, so there’s not much incentive to return for his senior season.

Collins grew up in New Orleans — specifically in the 7th Ward and in the Algiers section of the city’s West Bank. Because he’s home, Collins has been deluged with ticket requests from family and friends who want to see him play in Thursday’s Sugar Bowl against Ohio State.

Thanks to teammates, Collins said Sunday he needs only one more ticket to fulfill the 23 requests. Not that he’s complaining, though.

“It’s always exciting to play in front my family members that don’t get to see me that much,” he said. “It’s always tremendous to see them at the end of the game and see a smile on their face. I’m glad to be in my home city.”

Like many residents of New Orleans, Collins still remembers a few harrowing months in 2005 when he and his family were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Even though he was only 10, Collins watched the destruction unfold on television from his grandfather’s house in north Mississippi.

Collins was living with his mother when Katrina approached. The family had stayed through two previous hurricanes, but Katrina was different, Collins said.

“It depended how she felt if the hurricane was going to be strong or not,” he said. “Two hurricanes we stayed, but that hurricane she said she wanted to leave. She always follows her gut, and she’s usually right.”

Collins said about 20 family members packed up and headed to his grandfather’s house.

“To be so far away (and it was) still hitting us strong, I can only imagine what it’s going on in the city,” Collins said. “We turned on TV and saw pictures of all those people right there around the Superdome — it was worst vision and experience I’ve ever experienced.”

Collins worried about family that stayed behind. His father’s house was destroyed but a cousin’s was spared.

“It was on bricks, so the water didn’t get inside the house,” he said. “All I could think about was if I had a home to go back to. My mom was worried.”

Collins and his family spent nearly three months packed into three rooms of his grandfather’s house. It wasn’t ideal, but it beat the alternative.

“Our city just broke apart,” he said. “It was horrible. It was miserable for me. I hated going to those schools up in Mississippi, I ain’t going to lie to you.”

The experience made him stronger, though.

“I look back that it was something I needed to experience and overcome,” he said. “Like a team, we had to face adversity as a family. We overcame it, and we’re doing much better. It’s never ancient history.”